The Fantasy of Horror: ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’ (2002)

There are some movies that are impossible to be impartial about. For little, teenage me, from the release of The 13th Warrior to Hellboy, there’s a swath of movies that changed me on such a fundamental level, I cannot even pretend to be unbiased. Released in the U.S. in early 2002, smack dab in the middle of that period of personal mythical time, Le pacte des loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf) electrified my teenage brain. With a runtime of two-and-a-half hours, pushing against Midsommar’s own runtime, Brotherhood of the Wolf is a period drama that dances with monsters—human and otherwise—and weaves a story that teenage me could only really grasp the general shape of.

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Directed by Christophe Gans, who is known for directing the 2006 film adaptation of Silent Hill, Brotherhood of the Wolf centers around a series of killings plaguing the French countryside in 1764, attributed to a beast that would feast upon the innocent. This part of the account is drawn from real-world historic reports of the Beast of Gevaudan, but soon thereafter enters philosopher and biologist Grégoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), and his watchful Iroquois companion Mani (Mark Dacascos) to investigate this nightmare, at the behest of the king. Political intrigue and other, more toothsome dangers turn a dangerous investigation into the supernatural into something far more threatening. 

Image courtesy IMDB

It feels impossible to talk about Brotherhood of the Wolf without first setting the stage with everything that it is and trying to do: period drama meets buddy cop adventure meets creature feature meets martial arts, meets so many other things that I’m sure I’m forgetting. Where other reviewers have complained that this myriad of moving parts makes for a sloppy movie, I see the boundaries of genre as a permeable, living thing. The premise itself is horrifying enough—and the gore and practical effects certainly support this claim to the genre—but the collective creative approach to the development of Brotherhood was not to set out and check off boxes to establish it firmly as a specific genre piece; Brotherhood used a horrifying foundation to build something genre-blending and beautiful. From extended martial arts fight sequences to deliberate amounts of time spent with romantic subplots, Brotherhood of the Wolf does not shy away from the details and character development. What results is a world and watching experience that is both unique and something to languor in.

Slow-mo shots highlight the fight for life, the arrival of death, and the beauty of the landscape. The muted color palette seems to bring fantastical elements further into the realm of dream, but also anchors them further in the mud and murk of our own reality. Performances are largely solid across the board, though there are several times where a story like this calls for some over-the-top drama. Character performances for both Marianne (Émilie Dequenne), daughter of the local aristocracy and sister to Jean-François (Vincent Cassel), unscrupulous heir to power, and Jean-François himself deserve special mention. Marianne's character deserves her own spotlight, as Dequenne certainly exudes familiarity with the dangers of growing up at court, and Cassel’s screen presence is enchantingly evil. If Brotherhood did not spend the time with the wide-ranging cast it does, the focus of the film might stutter, but thankfully, many of the characters remain unforgettable.

Brotherhood still does have its warts, however, including a handful of moments in which Mani speaks, but English subtitles have him sounding as if he confuses French grammar. There are also scenes that take the baldly racist route, in which the local aristocracy questions Mani’s humanity and ability to perform. (Though these scenes do effectively highlight how low the ruling class truly is.) It also strikes me as unfortunate that Mani’s unique knowledge, presence, and backstory are seemingly reduced to a “magical Other” role that is often assigned to people of color.

For horror fans, Brotherhood of the Wolf is the rare historic treat that takes much of the potential of the mystery and terror of the past and turns it into something modern for current audiences to enjoy. (And credit where it’s due: Thanks to Shudder for finally bringing this beautiful beast of a movie to its streaming service.) On top of all of this, Brotherhood of the Wolf had a direct hand in the development of my own interest in folklore, my ongoing obsession with the highwayman’s coats that Mani and Gregoir wore (and I totally asked for one from a museum replica magazine when I was a teenager), and laying the foundation for the kind of stories I would love most as an adult. 

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Article written by Laura Kemmerer

Laura tuned into horror with an interest in what these movies and books can tell us about ourselves and what societies fear. She is most interested in horror focused around the supernatural, folklore, the occult, Gothic themes, haunted media, landscape as a character, and hauntology (focusing on lost or broken futures).